


Closet Drunk

by Timeplayermutual



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Drug Abuse, Drunk Sex, Drunkenness, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:27:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24105928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Timeplayermutual/pseuds/Timeplayermutual
Summary: Jade comes home to find Dave drunk on the couch, passed out.TW for talk about abuse (all types), drug and alcohol usage
Relationships: Jade Harley/Dave Strider
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	1. Football Game

Dave was on the couch, passed out. A football game was blasting on the tv, so Jade knew it had been a while since he was awake. Beers were littered around the living room, on the floor, on the couch, on the coffee table. There was also a tequila bottle sitting open about half-drunk, no cups were around it though. This was a surprise to her, seeing as she rarely came home from work before 11 am since you worked night shifts. She had never seen him like this. He was in his underwear, clothes nowhere in sight, which would have been funny except for the fact you had found out her roommate was a closet alcoholic.

  
She sighed, glad that she got off work early today because work was just a drag tonight. She expected Dave to be fast asleep and paid no mind to the fact that the TV was on when she walked inside. It was common for the tv to be on, not surprised that he would’ve fallen asleep with it on. She dropped her bag and shuffled her shoes off as she quietly walked past to get to her room. She paused to see if Dave was still awake only to see the scene before her. She didn’t even know what to do but she was now deeply concerned and wide awake. She quickly walked over and knelt by him in front of the couch. She rocked his shoulder gently, trying to wake him up. Her voice was soft but riddled with deep concern "Dave... Dave wake up..." she was concerned that he drank himself into alcohol poisoning by the scene left out for her to see. She’ll address the closet drinking when she knows that he’s safe and not seriously ill.

  
He sighed hard and whined, rolling his shoulder to shake off her hand. He mumbled something unintelligible. His body was used to the poison he fed it, but due to the day he had prior to this, he had no regard for the aftermath or who would find him like this. The day started off with nightmares, then constant reminders of his childhood, and ended with him drowning his sorrows in Cuervo. He usually had this side of himself under control, keeping it in his bedroom Out of sight, out of mind, and all that bullshit. But tonight, his drunken state opted to just moan and groan upon being found out.

  
She let out a sigh of relief at his response. At least he was responsive. That was one anxiety quelled. She knew about Dave’s childhood and could’ve sworn that he was getting help for it... turns out it was at the bottom of a bottle. "Oh yeah? Hm, you stay right here okay?" she stood up and threw a blanket over him so he wasn’t just laying there nearly nude. A sight she didn’t need or want to see. She left the living room to grab a glass of water and two Motrin for him. Returning quickly to rattle his shoulder again "I have something for you, wake up. I’m here to help... just let me help you."

  
He moved his face down into the couch cushion and mumbled again. He wasn't quite "there" enough to understand what she was saying or offering. He sighed hard into the fabric. He did get help, a few years ago, but talking about it seemed to make it worse. So he turned back to repression and escapism. Alcohol wasn't his only vice, but now it was the only one anyone knew about. He was good at being secretive, another thing he learned during adolescence. He started to wriggle under the blanket, as he was already hot, the blanket was as good as cooking him.

  
She watched him wriggle around like a child with a temper. Crouched down watching him, trying to stay calm because it wasn’t her place to get upset with him at the moment. She cleared a spot on the coffee table to set down the glass of water and pills. She stood up, pulling the blanket off of him since he didn’t like that. She huffed and lifted him up slightly so she could get onto the couch with him, pulling his head onto her lap she sat there and pet him. She was gonna watch him, wait out his stupor. Just being there, existing, whether he wanted her to or not. "football is kind of boring, mind if I change it." she was mostly talking to herself, reaching for the remote to change it anyway. She was tired, exhausted, but he needed her right now.

  
He grabbed her hand over the remote, slurring out a "nuh-uh". No given reason, just a childish answer and a weirdly powerful grip for a drunken toddler. He laid back down in Jade's lap for a while. His body was like a heat lamp, radiating warmth to the point it was almost visible. After a good hour of football and drunken ramblings, he sat himself up, a steadying hand on Jade's thigh. He reached for his almost empty bottle. "Why're you home so early?" His speech was slurred, but not beyond understandable.

  
"so I guess we’re watching football then..." she sighed and set the remote back down once he let go. The heat he was radiating caused her to shed her hoodie off, choosing not to move too much. She made a mental note of how feverish he felt, while barely paying attention to the screen she was thinking about. In her head, she was debating whether or not she should carry him to the bathroom but in sheer exhaustion, she was already starting to doze off. Quickly woken up by his movements and his ramblings quieting. She watched him reach for the bottle and slapped his arm. "No." she hissed firmly, grabbing it and holding it from the bottle like trying to hold back a kid from a cookie jar. "Work was slow so they let me go home early today. No need for me to be there if I’m not doing anything. Thought it would’ve been nice to get some extra sleep" she sighed slightly "but you need my help more than I need sleep." she started to pet at his hair, trying to get him to lay back down and distract him from drinking any more.  
He pulled his arm back to his chest and leaned away from her at the slap, his eyebrows furrowing at her. "Don't fucking hit me, asshole." He sighed sharply. "I didn't need any help, I'm fine." The full situation hadn't clicked in his brain yet, just annoyance about being treated like a child. "Where 're my clothes?" He started to get up, but his legs gave out almost immediately, landing him right back on the couch. He cursed under his breath.

  
She knew better than to take his words with more than a grain of salt. Knowing how alcohol can change your thoughts and your words. It still hurt a bit being called an asshole when she was just trying to help. She persisted in her efforts anyway. "Well... if you insist." she crossed her arms and watched him try to get up. "I found you on the couch like this. I would recommend laying back down before you hurt yourself." her voice was sterner than before, trying not to boss him around like a parent would you a child but still enough of a kick so that he would listen and stop trying to fight her on this. "just lay down, go to bed, and we can talk when you wake up in a few hours."

  
"No," he retaliated as he tried again to stand, this time holding the arm of the couch to balance. He got himself up this time with (almost) no issue. He quickly swiped the bottle before he could be hit again and stood back. "Just go t' bed harl  
I can take care of myself." He took a shaky swig of his drink and wobbled towards the stairs, presumably to his room. He didn't like the thought of being taken care of, it made his stomach feel queasy. He stopped at the landing and sat down against the wall, dizziness getting to him much more quickly than he anticipated.

  
She tried to lunge forward to grab the bottle before he did but he got it before her. She sat there for a moment, sighing as she watched him. She didn’t want to say anything, but she wanted to protest that he needed help. This obviously wasn’t the time though. She carefully watched him wobble walk to the stairs. Concern raising, all she could think about was him falling down the stairs so she quickly stood up again and walked over to watch from a distance. This was stressful beyond a doubt. Seeing him sit down against the wall she walked over and sat across him, watching with her arms crossed as well. "Can I help you up the stairs, or do you just want to sit here?" She wanted him to go to sleep so she could clean up and hide any more of his alcohol or find it if he was hiding it so she could keep a hold of it. She didn’t think this was a problem until just now, seeing his current state.

  
He groaned, he couldn't believe he was being treated like a child at the ripe age of 25. His only answer was a sigh and the outstretching of a shaky hand toward Jade. His brain was beginning to wrap itself around the reality of what was happening and it raised his heart rate a bit. He had done so well to keep it all under lock and key just to slip up like a dumbass. He knew he'd have to explain himself in the morning, so he was in no hurry to get any shut-eye (if he could, that is). But he knew he needed her to keep out of his room. The image of a kiddish "keep out" door sign popped into his head and made him cringe. "Help me there, but just to the door."

  
Well, that’s what happens when you're drunk off your own ass and helpless. She found him nearly passed out in his boxers on the couch surrounded by the litter of an alcoholic. God forbid she cares about someone. She was irked with how he was acting, but she tried to keep a level head. It wasn’t Dave talking, it was the alcohol. She helped him up, throwing his arm over her shoulder and carried him up the stairs. Muttering things to herself under her breath. She sure as hell wasn't going to be able to get some sleep after this. "Yea, yea. Whatever." she didn’t care, she was going to carry him to his bed, not like anything else could really be hiding aside from his stash of liquor if he had one.

  
He walked weakly alongside her, feeling really gross about having to be practically carried like this. Once they made it to the door, Dave halted, pulling his arm away from Jade. The sudden need to support his own weight caused him to fall onto the wall to keep himself afloat. "I said just to the damn room," he blurted quite loud when he saw her hand reach toward the doorknob. His shit was in there and the last thing he needed was her to confiscate it like a mom who found drugs (not far off albeit).

  
She kept her hand on the doorknob watching him pull away. "You’re drunk... you’re not thinking straight. I’m not going to touch your shit" she took a deep breath, trying not to yell or scold him. She was visibly upset watching him pull away and wobble. It’s not a pleasant state to see someone in. "Why won’t you just let me help you, Dave. I don’t care what preconceived ideas you have about people helping you but I care for you damn it. You’re hurting yourself and you can’t see it. I didn’t see it but seeing how much you had to drink to get yourself into this mess of a state you’ve been in it for a while." she huffed "just let me fucking help you, as a friend. I don’t want to come home one day and find my best friend dead on the couch surrounded by his drug of choice... think about someone other than yourself." she turned back to his door, opening it and waiting for Dave to wobble himself in. She’ll watch from the outside but the moment he starts going down she’s going in.

  
He frowned. He knew he wasn't being the best friend right now, but the anxiety he felt for her going into his room was overcoming him. But, he did go in. His room was a mess of bottles, clothes, and soda cans. The smell radiating from it all was a mixture of tobacco smoke, alcohol, and something skunky. The flush of his cheeks from the alcohol was worsened by the flush of embarrassment. His breath caught in his throat as he heard her walking in. At least his unused stash was hidden away, that was the only positive. He fell back onto his bed and covered his face with his arm.

  
She looked around his room from the outside, frowning slightly seeing it all. She always let him just keep his space how he wanted. She wasn’t his mom and it wasn’t any of her business how he kept his room. That was until now. He needed help. This was no longer a subject for wanting help. She couldn’t stand seeing him like this. She stood by the door for a while, watching him just lay there. Why didn’t he want help... she pulled her glasses off and lowered herself to the floor. Sitting down in his doorway, closing her eyes, and sitting there. She was truly exhausted but she needed to watch him. She opted to fall asleep right in his doorway, keeping his boundaries while keeping an eye on him.

  
He didn't really notice her in the doorway in his effort to avoid eye contact at all costs. Guilt was nipping at his ankles. He knew he'd have to cross this bridge one day, but he didn't think it would be so soon. In his mind, he was doing fine, keeping up with his commissions, paying bills, maintaining friendships, and all the things he saw as what a healthy person would be doing. Besides, this is what he grew up around, it felt normal to him. Familiar, even. After an hour or so of laying there thinking, he looked over, noticing Jade. She was out cold when he decided to finally wake up. She was already exhausted from work and handling Dave was not something she was really prepared for when she came home. She was easy to move, leaning against him as she was picked up and quickly laid down in his bed. She got comfortable easily, being that it was ten times softer than the door frame. Guilt shooting through him even worse now, he covered her up, kissing her forehead before turning off the lamp. He wasn't getting any sleep, he knew that. He took a seat at his desk and opted to work on his comic while she dozed. No matter the guilt, he lit himself a cigarette to calm his nerves as he worked. The overwhelming scent of cigarette smoke floating through the air woke her up quickly. It wasn't her favorite scent and normally she would ignore it but when it was right there you can't ignore it very well. She yawned and sat up, looking around, and seeing that she was in his room. "I could've sworn that I fell asleep at your door" she piped up, pulling her legs up to her chest. She slowly looked around his room, frowning slightly. "Dave, why didn't you say it was getting bad again? I could've helped you."

  
Dave jumped, he was so absorbed in his work that her voice startled him. "You did, it didn't look comfortable." He didn't look up from his work as he talked, still embarrassed at the whole ordeal. He coloured in a frame as he took a long drag, sighing the smoke out heavily. He fidgeted around with the drawing pad's pen, clicking it on and off. "It-" he hesitated, "never got 'better', per se." He sipped from a can on his desk, thankfully soda, since at this point Dave's heart wouldn't let him drink with Jade in the room. His legs bounced with anxiety, causing the rolling chair to creak.

  
She sighed, "You told me to stay out of your room so I did. I didn't want to fight you any more than I had to. You were hesitant enough just to let me help you up the stairs." She rubbed at her temples, deciding not to comment on the smoking. One problem at a time, right now it was drinking. It's one thing to have a drink occasionally with friends or on special occasions but this seemed to be a regular occurrence for him. Which was even more frustrating. "Again- Why didn't you tell me. Did you think you could keep it a secret from me forever? That I would never get off work early to find you halfway to hell on our couch?" She took a deep breath, calming herself down so she didn't start scolding him and making things worse. She was still extremely frustrated and upset though. "It's too late to think back to why you didn't ask before... Okay. I'm going to help you now whether you like it or not. I'm not going to come home and find you fallen down the stairs, drowning in your own vomit, or blackout drunk on the couch. I don't care what you have to say about it but we're starting now. There are other better habits you could indulge in. Habits that won't end up killing you."  
There was heat rising in Dave's chest. He didn't want help or need it. He replied through gritted teeth. "No offense Harley, but I don't need any kind of intervention." He was annoyed that she didn't get it, but how could she if he never talked about it? And he wasn't about spilling his tragic life story on her, no matter how many years they'd known each other. He'd kept this 'cool guy' face up his whole life, one fucked up night wasn't going to make it all crash down. He thought maybe if he avoided it for long enough it would go away (doubtful). He would just have to let up on alcohol for a while, he had plenty of other escapes to use. His brain wandered to Bro for a hot second, but he snapped himself out of that quickly. "Thanks though.."

  
Her jaw clenched, standing up and walking over to him. Stepping over anything that happened to be on the floor to get over to his desk. She held his face in her hands, looking down at him with furrowed brows and a frown on her face. She was concerned, as evident in her eyes and her actions. "Just talk to me... Why won't you tell me anything? I'm not going to think of you differently. I'm not going to kick you out or baby you. I want to know what goes through your insane fucking mind. Just let me help you. I can't help you if I don't know what's going on. But I was not prepared to come home and find you like that. Dave, I thought you died. I thought you killed yourself on our couch. You weren't moving, you were nearly naked, surrounded by empty bottles and cans."

  
He leaned into her hands and sighed. "I don't talk about it for a reason, it's too much for me and definitely too much for you. You're too sweet." His smile looked like it held back the worries of a thousand lifetimes. He put his cigarette out almost mechanically. "I've been doing this shit since I was a kid, I know my limits, last night was just worse than usual." The scars on his face itched when he thought about anything related to childhood, so he almost physically shook his head to get the images out.

  
"Okay, yea but that has nothing to do with helping you, Dave." She sighed, her lips didn't curl up into a smile just a further frown. "I'm not going to force you to talk about it but you have to tell someone when you're wearing your limits. I don't want to see you like that because it hurts to see you hurting yourself like that." She almost held her breath looking at him. "We've all been through shitty things... You're not alone in feeling damaged like this. I was neglected as a child, a gun slapped in my hands and forced to fend for myself, Dave. It's not as bad as you but you're not alone. I can't see you doing this to yourself. I can't watch you destroy yourself and just let it happen."

  
His hands cupped over hers, pulling them off, still holding on to them though. "The shit we both went through 's subjective. Yours was not better or worse than mine or vice versa, so don't say shit like that." He sighed hard. "And I'm not going to die, at least not this young. I'll be okay, okay?" Dave squeezed her hands and held them to his chest. The feeling of making her worry like this felt like it was stabbing him in the stomach, it made him sort of queasy. Though it could have also been the alcohol still in his body. "I'm just not ready to, ya know, get better."

  
She stood there, watching him and letting him move her hands, her eyes drifting away from his face and to her hands. She was worried. It was fair to be worried about this kind of situation. She wouldn't be able to let this go, to ignore the fact that he's drinking his life away to push away his own feelings. At the end of the day though, she can't force him to talk about it. She can't make him get better. So she was stuck in the veil, the in-between. "But one day you won't be okay, Dave. One day it won't be and I don't want that day to come. I don't know what I would do with myself." Her hands were shaking slightly, pressing them to his chest gently. "Then at least let me in, to offer a distraction that doesn't reside at the bottom of a bottle of liquor. I don't know how to help in this kind of situation but you're my best friend and I would do anything for you, Dave."

  
He regulated his breathing, realizing it had picked up in the moment. Her hands were cold against his unusually warm ones. The hands on his chest somehow calmed him down more weirdly enough, "Distract me how?" Dave asked as he cocked an eyebrow at her. His thumbs rubbed the palms of her hands. He wanted to make it all better, but confronting his feelings was too much at this point in his life. But it made it a little more bearable to have someone standing with him though, less lonely.

  
"Just being here. Distracting you from your thoughts so you don't have to drink them away. I can't take the memories, I can't pluck them from your brain and make it all better... But the least I can do is just be here for you and make you watch shitty movies and hold you when you're drunk and feverish." She sighed, her hands gently clasping over his thumbs. The feeling of him rubbing at her palms felt nice, helping calm some of her own nerves about the situation. "I can't fix you, even if I wanted to try. But I can alleviate your pain if you don't just push me away like I'm nothing to you."

  
"I didn't want you to feel like that.." Dave stood and wrapped her in a tight hug, rubbing her back in a slow rhythm. "I just can't have anyone knowing what I know, you dig?" His face dug into her collar, trying to refrain from anything not innocent he may be thinking, he knew it was the wrong time. "You do mean the world to me, Jade, everything you do for me is appreciated, no matter how ungrateful I seem." He stood there for a while, holding her close. He had pushed a lot of people out through his life, but for some reason, he felt like losing her would end him. For good.

  
She was surprised by the sudden hugs but her arms wrapped around his neck. Holding him close. She didn't say anything for a while, just savoring the moment. "You have to let someone know eventually... But it doesn't have to be today or anytime soon, okay?" She tried to assure him, her words soft again and whispering. She didn't want to disrupt the moment with anything too loud. With a deep breath, she replied. "It was hard to remember that when the alcohol spoke for you Dave..." it was mostly just stating how she felt, but it hurt when he did call her an asshole just for stopping him from grabbing a bottle when he was already far gone. "-But I'm not going to leave. I know that it wasn't you."

  
"It was me and you should hold me accountable for it." It took everything in him not to pull away. He felt disgusted at himself. The alcohol had mostly blocked out the dialogue from that, but hearing her talk about it, for lack of a better term, sucked major ass. He looked up from her shoulder and saw how late (early?) it was. "Shit, you need sleep." He inwardly scolded himself for keeping her up so late. "When do you go in?"

  
She choked back tears, her throat tightening. It helped when she tried to separate his actions from the alcohol. That the words that came out of his mouth when he was drunk weren't his. They were just words spoken in his voice. She didn't pull away, still just holding him as her eyes grew puffy with tears. "I don't feel well enough to go in tomorrow... I'll just tell them that I'm sick. They'll be fine if I don't come in for one day." She reassured him, she didn't care about the time or the fact that he kept her up and away from getting any kind of sound sleep.

  
"Still, you need rest. I've put you through enough for one night." He pulled away, not particularly wanting to be alone with his brain, but the urge to run was strong. His brain screamed to run before he hurt her further. "I'll be okay for the night. I promise, no more alcohol." He put a hand over his chest in some sort of cartoonish sincerity. "And I'll pay you back for the missed shift in rent for the month." Even though his shades covered his eyes and his mouth was curved into a smile, he felt like his emotions were all over him, leaking out like oil. He tried to fix this with a very much out of character, toothy smile.

  
She pulled her arms away from him, crossing her arms instead as she watched him. "I'm gonna sleep in your room, I don't trust that you'll uphold that right now." She felt bad saying that but it was true. She couldn't trust that he wouldn't dig into some secret stash and drink himself dizzy again. "You don't have to. It's just one shift." She was already walking over to his bed, not caring or paying attention to whatever state it could've been in. She glanced at him and flashed a slight smile before it faded. His eyes were covered but she could tell just by how hard he was trying to show himself as alright for the night. She sat down, tucking her legs into his blankets. "Wake me up if you need anything."

  
He watched her walk over and slip under the covers. He really wasn't going to drink anymore that night, maybe smoke a bit, but no more Cuervo's. He was a bit sick feeling anyway. "Wh-" He stammered. "I guess I'll sleep on the floor then?" He found it odd that she just claimed his bed. He walked over to grab one of the pillows and extra blankets he kept piled on the mound a top of his mattress. Before, though, he took his glasses off and laid them down on the nightstand next to Jade's, lining them up.

  
She glanced over to him. "I can share a bed, Dave. I'm your best friend. I'm not going to do anything. I just don't trust you right now, okay? I'm allowed to not trust you" She closed her eyes. "I just found out you were a closet drinker. Forgive me for being wary of the situation." She yawned, already starting to doze off much too easily, She rolled onto her side, curling up comfortably and falling asleep.

  
No matter their relationship, the idea of sharing a bed felt really...weird. He hadn't slept in the same bed with anyone since he was a kid. A shiver went down his spine, but he again pushed it from his mind and climbed into bed, trying his best not to have any of him touch Jade. 'Don't be a pussy!' words spoken a long time ago echoed in his brain and the voice that spoke them made goosebumps rise on his arms and legs. He didn't listen, as he scooted as far to the edge of his mattress he could manage without falling off like a dumbass. Sleep didn't come easy.

  
She was sound asleep, unmoving, and still. If she was awake she would've told him to stop messing around or even just gotten up and fallen asleep right outside his door again. She could fall asleep anywhere, her strange talent. In a few hours, she would have woken up, yawning and rolling over, patting where her nightstand was in her room for her glasses. It took her a few seconds of patting in the air for her to open her eyes and look around, seeing that she was still in Dave's room. She glanced at the blurry shapes to grab her own glasses and slip them on so she could see again. She laid there for a few minutes, staring at the ceiling trying to wake up. Reality sort of felt like some kind of weird dream, almost not even real.

  
Dave had eventually dozed off. When Jade woke up, he was still hugging the corner of the bed like a fool. He'd had a few nightmares that night and currently was in one. Not one of the kicking and screaming types, just more quiet whimpering and face scrunching. It was about Him, like usual. The whole nightmare was blurry, like he was looking through shower glass. He just heard the sound of swords, felt wet from his head, and large leather-clad gloves on his arms. Tonight's sleep talk was just, "Quit it," over and over. The red sheets on his bed were clenched in his fist.

  
She turned over to see him sleeping like an idiot, her nose scrunching up slightly in confusion. She sat there for a second, trying to think through a foggy mind since she just woke up until she noticed he was dreaming... and it didn't seem good. She was still fully clothed and she sure as hell wasn't concerned about "personal space" so with that she leaned over and set a hand on his shoulder before sliding into a hug, whispering. "Dave... it's just a dream. It's just a bad dream. You're okay. You're safe. It's just a bad dream"  
He flinched and his eyes shot open, then he fell off his own bed. He was sure as hell awake now. It took him a few seconds to gather himself before looking up, half expecting to see Bro. He didn't. Just Jade looking down at him inquisitively. He couldn't fully remember last night, just bits and pieces that gave him no clue of the full picture. His roommate.. in his bed? 'Oh fuck' he thought, what did I do last night, something he had to routinely ask himself. But nothing as strange as this happened when he drank at home. After staring for a while like a deer in the headlights, he stammered out a. "W-what's shakin'?" Stupid.

  
She tried to catch him but he was already on the floor. She was hanging over looking at him over the edge with the main concern about his nightmare but also because he just fell off his bed. She blinked a few times looking at him confused. She could remember perfectly what happened last night but she didn’t really know that he would forget things either. "Um. Nothing. Are you okay? You fell out of bed after your nightmare." she took a deep breath and sat up from the edge of his bed. It was a bit weird having slept in his bed but seeing that she was still in jeans and her work shirt nothing happened. She yawned again and stretched. "you hit your head at all? Do you feel okay? Do you need any Motrin for any headaches? Water?" she offered, sitting on his bed cross-legged and calm.  
"If I may be so bold..." The deer-in-the-headlights look still covered his face, "Why're you, uh," Why was he having such a hard time? 'Be cool dude, not the first time you've...oh fuck.' He stood up and backed up a few steps. If he made things awkward between them, it was over for him. "You're... in my bed." He bit his fist. His tendency to get his foot in his mouth was looming over him, like a crow waiting to kill. He tried, and failed, to regulate his heart, convinced Jade could hear it from across the room.

  
She looked at him giving him a stupid look before sighing realizing that he forgot what had happened "Dave I came home last night to find you blackout drunk on the couch. I didn’t trust you to not drink while I was asleep so I opted to just sleep in your bed. Nothing happened. You’re the only one almost naked because you were too feverish for clothes. Believe me I would’ve tried to dress you if you wouldn’t have tried to rip it off immediately." she shook her head, still looking at him like he was an idiot. "nothing. Happened. Dave."

  
His breathing slowed down. Now he just looked like a dumbass, not any different from usual. "Shit, uh, sorry." The focus of his embarrassment turned toward the fact he was practically naked. "Oh FUCK sorry." He grabbed a pair of sweatpants off his floor and struggled into them. He started rambling something about how he was acting like a dumbass teen and needed to think more and not jump to conclusions or something to the effect. His stammering made it kind of difficult to understand. This was a situation he NEVER foresaw happening, in his waking hours at least. "Sorry about all of this, I should have thought before I did all that. Just a one-time thing, I swear." He grabbed a jacket with something bulging out of the pocket and slipped it on. "I'm gonna get some air." He went toward the door, heading to the backyard.


	2. Chocolate Chip Pancakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> time for some quick wholesome content before we get sad again

She just watched him panic and pull clothes on, the state of his room was concerning but she was too tired to question cleanliness. So instead she gave up trying to understand what he was saying and climbed out of his bed. Doing another good stretch. Ah yes, that good morning stretch that really starts your day off well. Except for the fact that it couldn’t really be that great with the situation at hand. Go figure right? She knew that apology had little backing behind it, just that he would try to make sure she never saw it again. "I’m coming with you. It’s been a while since I’ve felt the sunlight." she watched him before sighing and pulling her hair up using one of the hair ties on her wrist. A few minutes later jade came outside looking lazier than when she woke up. She had adopted her own sweatpants and a hoodie. She mostly just stood by the back foot, squinting and watching him. The sun was brighter than she remembered. "Dave. What do you remember about last night?"

Dave held a cigarette in one hand and a can of soda in the other. "Not really anything. Just getting upset and drinking. Then working on my comic a bit. Those pages are probably trashy.." He forced a small laugh. He remembered more of what triggered the episode, but that was for him to know and him only. He lit the cigarette and took a drag. "Do I want to know what happened?" His body felt weak. What if he'd done something bad? No, she wouldn't be in his bed if he had, he was sure. He usually didn't smoke around her, but he got the feeling he'd let some things slip last night, this vice was the least of his worries.

She watched him, leaning against the door frame. Her hands shoved in her hoodie pocket and eyes half-lidded. This was not how she imagined or wanted a day off to go. She didn’t get many of them as it is. "it’s not like you did something bad. I caught you. You called me an asshole for trying to stop you from drinking more. I carried you up the stairs. Most of it was a half-asleep blur but we did have a heart to heart..." she sighed, nodding slowly. "I think that’s the basic gist of it. See, nothing horrible. But. You get to clean up the living room. I don’t want to see your liquor trash littering the house. Okay?" it wasn’t much of a compromise, to get him to clean up his own mess. But it was the only thing she would come up with. She didn’t mind the cigarette at the moment, mainly because this time it was outside.

"Of course I will. I didn't notice it coming out, sorry." He took a drag. "Sorry about calling you an ass, I don't usually get like that." He sighed, looking down at the ground behind his shades. He had to wear them outside especially, photosensitive eyes and all that. "I didn't mean for you to find me like that, I wasn't like, crying for attention like a teenage girl." His brain called him on his bullshit, and he shook his head to rid the thoughts. "You're.. okay, right?" He began to worry he'd done something bad, even if she said he didn't, his paranoia was in full throttle.

She nodded, feeling bad like she was kind of snappy at him. It was just hard to be kind and considerate with these things. "sorry, I didn’t mean to seem bossy... it’s alright. Well not really but it will be." she tapped her fingers on the wall before standing up straight. "I know, Dave. It’s okay." she sighed and walked over to him, hugging him from behind. Not really saying anything. She didn’t know what else to say. She knew what was said, what it felt like seeing him like that. But she didn’t want him to worry, so she played it off as exhaustion. That her more dull responses were due to how tired she was. "I’m fine Dave. Take a deep breath. The worst thing that happened was just walking in and the panic I felt. I thought you had died on the couch."

"Me, Dave Strider, lie down and die?" He laughed. "You know me better than that, Harley." He flicked the cigarette butt to the concrete and stomped it out. "I'd never bested by anything short of a sword to the chest. Don't worry about that shit." He opted to keep the mood lighthearted instead of the alternative. He turned around and hugged her, lifting her off the ground a bit. Acting happy was his best quality, besides his rap game. "We had breakfast or what? I'm starving." He smiled at her warmly. A bad night wasn't standing in his way.

She laughed at his reaction, squeezing him back. "yea, you can help me. I could always use help while cooking" she loved seeing how happy he looked. She would give the world to him if she could. Especially since he was this happy over some pancakes. She wished that she cooked a lot more often for him. She settled her feet on the ground when she was set down. She turned to walk inside, laughing again at his actions. "why thank you" she composed herself enough to say that before she was bursting out laughing. "do you want chocolate chips in your pancakes?"

"Hell yeah, I do." He followed her in and closed the door behind them. "Do you know me, or do you know me?" This domestic type shit made him feel like he had the home he didn't grow up in. He all but glided over to the fridge and took out the egg carton. "I make no promises that they'll turn out edible, but eggs there shall be." He opened the carton and looked over at her, he hoped he was helping to ease her worries at least a bit. "How'd you take 'em, m'lady?" He put on his most obnoxious British accent as he asked. He held the egg up at the light to jokingly expect it until it found its way out of his fingers and splatting onto the floor.

She nodded and started gathering her needed ingredients for pancakes. Starting to measure out the flour and everything as he spoke and took on the task of making the eggs. "hm, I guess as long as they look nice they can be a center price" she laughed adding onto the joke "they’ll be a part of the breakfast scenery" she was happy to give him things he never had as a kid even if it was mundane like making breakfast and laughing. She was getting ready to reply when it fell out of his hand "preferably scrambled but it looks like the type of the day is ground egg" she teased playfully before grabbing a towel to walk over and clean it up from the floor.

His face steamed with embarrassment, visibly flushed. And it didn't help that he tripped and almost went face-first into the white tile. But Striders are smooth, he caught himself with the grace of a newborn deer. "Fuck. Shit. I got this, tend to those godly pancakes." He got down on his knees and clumsily picked up the murdered egg, laying it to rest in the garbage can in the sky. Dave stood back up, and with less reckless abandon, cracked eggs into the pan. He tossed them around for a while, only half knowing what he was doing. He'd never made eggs and that was becoming oh so clear.

Jade: Once it was cleaned up she smiled at him. Such a cool guy was so foolishly clumsy. She turned back to her pancakes, taking the bowl in her arm to mix as she walked over to see how he was doing with making the eggs. She wasn’t going to point out that he was doing it awfully wrong. "alright, Dave." she leaned against the counter still mixing. "okay, so you’re going to move the eggs around in the pan while they cook. Like you’re mixing them with your spatula. Make sure they don’t burn on the bottom." she turned down his stovetop, watching him to help him. A soft smile on her face, happy to help him learn.

He wanted to make some snarky comment about knowing what he was doing, but he really didn't. At all. Cooking lessons with Bro consisted of learning to dial the numbers of delivery joints. On the bright side, his brain was basically a catalog of restaurant phone numbers. He tried his best to grasp what she was teaching him, but the number of Domino's was on a loop in his brain, which surprisingly proved very distracting. Once the eggs looked not-raw, he haphazardly transferred them to his plate, not without burning himself a few times. 'Stoves are hot, dumpass,' his brain mocked.

As he cooked she would try to help him through. Eggs were easy to cook but... she did have to cook for herself for most of her life. Tasks such as cooking were subjective to childhood so she was supportive of helping him get these skills down. She winced slightly as he burned himself a few times, muttering an ouch to herself "they look good! How’s your hands." she set the bowl down, holding her hands out for his go check his burns even if they were slight and not even that bad. "do you... want me to show you how to make eggs? Soon enough you’ll be a pro at making them. I swear."

Dave held his hand out to her, he'd honestly barely noticed the singed flesh. "Nothing bad, probably first-degree shit." He gave a half-smile at the offer. "Maybe later, Harl, I'm starving." That last part was almost a whine of desperation. For pancakes. "My stomach is going to eat itself alive before you're able to get through my thick skull how to properly cook eggs." Truthfully, it embarrassed him a lot that he couldn't make a simple egg, but cool guys keep their cool. It's in the name, literally.

She looked over his hands, checking the burns quickly before letting them go. "Yea, that's fair. I'm hungry too." She laughed and turned the stove back on so she could cook the pancakes. "oh! I almost forgot the chocolate chips!" She turned quickly and looked through the cabinets to pull out a bag of chocolate chips and added a handful of them into the batter. "Okay, now we can make our pancakes." She gave him a toothy smile before starting to pour out the batter into the pan. "We can work on it later. And I'll let you try to teach me how to draw. How about that?" She offered, glancing over to him.

"Are you sure you're ready to learn from the master?" He boasted, bushing off his shoulders in an ironic manner. He stood closely behind her after shoveling some eggs into his face. 'Put your hands on her shoulder.' The small voice in his head rang loudly once again. No, waking up next to her in his underwear had already given him the heart attack of the century. He slid his hands into his pockets. 'Coward.’ 


End file.
